Most popular baby names in North Dakota for 2011

May 18, 2012 - Andrea Johnson

The Social Security Administration released its list of most popular names given in each state last year. A lot of the names for North Dakota seem to be the same as last year, but I'm surprised by how popular the name Harper seems to be all of a sudden for girls. The only Harper I'm familiar with is Harper Lee, the author of "To Kill A Mockingbird." I don't see any reason why this novel that is more than 50 years old would suddenly be inspiring names for today's little girls, so I can only assume there's some television character or celebrity with the name that I've never heard of.

The boys' list doesn't contain many surprises, though Liam seems to be more popular again than in the rest of the country. Liam is also very popular in Canada, so maybe our proximity to the Canadian border has something to do with it. Carter also seems to be much more popular for boys here than other parts of the country, as are the names Easton and Wyatt. They sound like perfect names for cowboys to me, but we do live pretty close to ranching country.

The most popular names for girls in North Dakota last year were, in order: Emma, Ava, Sophia, Olivia, Harper, Isabella, Abigail, Ella, Avery and Brooklyn.

The most popular names for boys in North Dakota in 2011 were, in order: Mason, Carter, Jacob, Liam, Ethan, Logan, Noah, Owen, Easton and Wyatt.

A complete list of the popular names for all the states can be found on the Social Security Administration website.